Any sensible person would easily identify the fact that car accidents do not cause bear attacks. Therefore, using the first graph, and only the first graph, to disprove global warming is a perfect misleading statistics example. Specific wording patterns have a persuasive effect and induce respondents to answer in a predictable manner. Fig. One of the most misleading, but rather common, tricks is to use relative risks when talking about the benefits of a treatment, for example to say that "Women taking tamoxifen had about 49% fewer diagnoses of breast cancer", while potential harms are given in absolute risks: "The annual rate of uterine cancer in the tamoxifen arm was 30 per 10,000 This graph makes the argument that masks help "flatten the curve" (or lower the rate of growth of COVID-19 cases) by pointing out that countries with mask usage had lower growth rates than countries without mask usage. Editors, clients, and people want something new, not something they know; thats why we often end up with an amplification phenomenon that gets echoed and more than it should. In 2012, the global mean temperature was measured at 58.2 degrees. The growing number of places people go to for information has made it easier for misinformation to spread at a never-before-seen speed and scale. For some effective examples of visual information, check out this visualization of wealth shown to scale, or Nicky Case's website, which is full of interactive games that explain how society works. It is a reliable indicator of an individual's graph literacy level, but . A study of millions of journal articles shows that their authors are increasingly reporting p-values but are often doing so in a misleading way, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.P-values are a measure of statistical significance intended to inform scientific conclusions. Until March 26, the bars' heights correspond to the numbers. First of all, this plot was created for use by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and it was showcased during an August 5 press conference (video is available here on their Facebook page), and then this plot and the description of what it means was picked up and amplified by multiple news media organizations. Was there a rapid decline in cases? The Cake Is a Lie. . While initially, the trend was going towards choosing option A, when grouping surviving patients considering other variables the trend changed to option B. Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah explained: In pink, thats the reduction in the breast exams, and the red is the increase in the abortions. A slideshow version of the Community Toolkit for educators and other community leaders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Reasons to use the Community Toolkit video, Talk to your community about health misinformation, Share Myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines to Facebook, Share Myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines to Twitter, Share Myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines on LinkedIn, Share Myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines in an email, Share Battling misinformation through health messaging to Facebook, Share Battling misinformation through health messaging to Twitter, Share Battling misinformation through health messaging on LinkedIn, Share Battling misinformation through health messaging in an email, Share Health misinformation video to Facebook, Share Health misinformation video to Twitter, Share Health misinformation video on LinkedIn, Share Health misinformation video in an email, Battling misinformation through health messaging. Seeking a relationship between data isnt a misuse per se, however, doing so without a hypothesis is. Based on the structure of the chart, it does in fact appear to show that the number of abortions since 2006 experienced substantial growth, while the number of cancer screenings substantially decreased. However, when considering other factors such as the health conditions in which patients arrived at the hospitals we can drive other conclusions. Drinking tea increases diabetes by 50%, and baldness raises the cardiovascular disease risk up to 70%! Did we forget to mention the amount of sugar put in the tea or the fact that baldness and old age are related just like cardiovascular disease risks and old age? Quasi-experimental, single-center, before and after studies are enthusiastically performed. Another issue, and maybe the worst of them all, is that the dates under the bars are not ordered chronologically. You are not required to obtain permission to reuse this article in part or whole. We found 18 examples of false advertising scandals that have rocked big brands some are still ongoing and not all companies have had to pay up, but each dealt with a fair amount of negative. Population ageing is happening more quickly than in the past. In critical scenarios such as a global pandemic, this becomes even more important as misinformation can lead to a higher spread and more deaths. We took a very obvious one to show you below. Really? It is easy to see a correlation. For example, let's say you're comparing mammal weights. Each kind is calculated differently and gives different information (and a different impression) about the data: In this case, the goal is not association, but comparison, thereby making it a bit more difficult to initially interpret the data. Asking a question to a sample size of 20 people, where 19 answers "yes" (=95% say for yes) versus asking the same question to 1,000 people and 950 answers "yes" (=95% as well): the validity of the percentage is clearly not the same. Certain industries tend to have more issues with misleading claims. A good rule of thumb is to always take polling with a grain of salt and to try to review the questions that were actually presented. Furthermore, an essential discussion should center around why specific locations may have had a mask mandate versus why others may not have, and to focus attention on the change over time within each grouprather than comparing between the groups. Proactively address information deficits. Our guide included some misleading examples and illustrations of data, several of which come from the Reddit thread for misleading visual statistics. However, some survival rate statistics can be misleading because they don't take into account differences in patient characteristics, such as age, sex, and stage of disease. It also happens to be a topic that is vigorously endorsed by both opponents and proponents via studies. Whether for market intelligence, customer experience, or business reporting, the future of data is now. This article provides guidance on best practices for detecting health misinformation and assessing the accuracy of different information sources. As no one works for free, it is always interesting to know who sponsors the research. Now, as we learned throughout this post, we cant say with certainty that the law caused the rise in deaths as there are other factors that could influence that number. The report, "Births: Preliminary Data for 2009" found that the rate for the youngest teenagers, 10-14 years, fell from 0.6 to 0.5 per 1,000, also the lowest level ever reported. If all this is true, what is the problem with statistics? 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG. For instance, of 100 patients that arrived in poor condition in Hospital A, 30 survived. The graph generated a big controversy on social media, especially on Twitter, where users pointed out that the Georgia Health Department had repeatedly used misleading statistics during the COVID-19 outbreak. Whether this person notices or not, they might be providing an inaccurate or manipulated picture to confirm a specific conclusion. In this article, we showcase examples of how data related to the COVID-19 pandemic has been (mis)represented in the media and by governmental agencies and discuss plausible reasons why it has been (mis)represented. In the field of healthcare, statistics is important for the following reasons: Reason 1: Statistics allows healthcare professionals to monitor the health of individuals using descriptive statistics.. Reason 2: Statistics allows healthcare professionals to quantify the relationship between . This trailer video introduces the Surgeon Generals Confronting Health Misinformation advisory and why it matters. Home Uncategorized examples of misleading statistics in healthcare. This page includes the key takeaways from the advisory. Fact 1: The world's population is rapidly ageing. For example, are visualizations representing the data accurately? Statistical reliability is crucial in order to ensure the precision and validity of the analysis. The number of people aged 60 years or older will rise from 900 million to 2 billion between 2015 and 2050 (moving from 12% to 22% of the total global population). 19 Most Misleading Statistics (That Are Technically Correct) By: Cracked Plasticians April 20, 2016 Advertisement When the math adds up, the numbers never lie. Disinformation is when misinformation is used to serve a malicious purpose, such as to trick people into believing something for financial gain or political advantage. Studies foster informed decision-making, sound judgments, and actions carried out on the weight of evidence, not assumptions. These are examples of loaded questions., A more accurate way of wording the question would be, Do you support government assistance programs for unemployment? or, (even more neutrally) What is your point of view regarding unemployment assistance?, The latter two examples of the original questions eliminate any inference or suggestion from the poller, and thus, are significantly more impartial. Truncating axes means doing the opposite. As an entrepreneur and former consultant, Mark Suster advises in an article, you should wonder who did the primary research of said analysis. You can also ask someone external to your research to look at the data, someone biased to the topic that can confirm your results are not misleading. What would your conclusion be about the importance of a mask mandate? The results provide deceiving information that creates false narratives around a topic. Ioannidis JP. American network Fox News has been under scrutiny several times throughout the years for showing misleading statistics graphs that seem to purposely portray a conclusion that is not accurate. How inclusive was it? For further thinking about this topic, I recommend this blogpost (Rost Citation2018, May). Accepted author version posted online: 12 Apr 2021, Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. Incentivize coordination across grantees to maximize reach, avoid duplication, and bring together a diversity of expertise. should be built in a certain area based on population growth patterns. Using the wrong graph 7. Tufte (Citation2001) talked about this in his book, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, making a point that having two vertical axes on a time series plot can be very useful when attempting to show a plausible association between two things. You will end up with a statistical error called selective bias. Cumulative VS. Knowing when data is accurate and complete, and being able to identify discrepancies between numbers and any . The time 7 million was 5x more than 6 million. Omitting the baseline. Looking for U.S. government information and services? Tread carefully, for either knowingly or ignorantly, correlation hunting will continue to exist within statistical studies. The below chart expresses the 30-year change in global mean temperatures. Making the difference between the two publications a lot bigger than what it actually is, which is just 10%. It is fixed". They sure can. ", we can address 8 methods often used - on purpose or not - that skew the analysis and the results. 3099067 Moreover, this is a common topic appearing in tertiary introductory statistics courses, as well as courses on quantitative reasoning. You can be drawn in by the good from what appears to be a reputable source and then can. These are nine of the most misleading product claims. Prioritize protecting health professionals and journalists from online harassment. According to a definition by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a Simpsons Paradox is a statistical phenomenon where an association between two variables in a population emerges, disappears or reverses when the population is divided into subpopulations. However, more often than not, data dredging is used to assume the existence of relationships without further study. Going https://rigorousthemes.com/blog/misleading-data-visualization-examples/ Category: Health Show Health To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. xkdc's comic illustrates this very well, to show how the "fastest-growing" claim is a totally relative marketing speech: Likewise, the needed sample size is influenced by the kind of question you ask, the statistical significance you need (clinical study vs business study), and the statistical technique. However, closer inspection reveals that the dates along the horizontal axis are not in order of time, with, for instance, May 1 appearing before April 30 and April 26 appearing in between May 7 (on the left) and May 3 (on the right). A controversial representation of this happened in 2014 when a graph depicting the number of murders committed using firearms in Florida from 1990 to 2010 was published in the context of the Stand Your Ground law, enacted in 2005 to give people the right to use deadly force for self-defense. Each of these sources may have other primary purposes, so there are advantages and challenges when they are used for the purposes of quality measurement and reporting. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. See examples and a list of best practices here! In May 2020, around 5 months after COVID-19 started spreading around the world, the US Georgia Department of Public Health posted a chart that aimed at showing the top 5 counties that had the highest COVID-19 cases in the past 15 days and the number of cases over time. Big data has the ability to provide digital age businesses with a roadmap for efficiency and transparency, and eventually, profitability. Now that weve put the misuse of statistics in context, lets look at various digital age examples of statistics that are misleading across five distinct, but related, spectrums: media and politics, news, advertising, science, and healthcare. The issue comes with the second graph that is displayed in the article, in which we see a comparison of full-price sales between The Times and one of its biggest competitors, the Daily Telegraph. Ask a credible source, such as a doctor or nurse, if they have additional information. Second, without paying very close attention to the scales of the two vertical axes in the original plot, it would be easy to conclude that counties with mask mandates had dropped below that of those with no mask mandatean incorrect conclusion. Figure 1, from the Healthgrades site, shows the results for the first. It is also worth noting that, as there is a large degree of variability within the climate system, temperatures are typically measured with at least a 30-year cycle. In an undergraduate-level context, it is fairly common to reason about side-by-side histograms, or to create them, in statistics courses or quantitative reasoning courses. If you really want to make a shocking statement, make sure you only include part of the data. Here are common types of misuse of statistics: Now that you know them, it will be easier to spot them and question all the stats that are given to you every day. A trailer video introducing the Community Toolkit that can be used for educational and training purposes. Expand efforts to build long-term resilience to misinformation, such as educational programs. Move with urgency toward coordinated, at-scale investment to tackle misinformation. Accurate vaccine information is critical and can help stop common myths and rumors. When this paradox goes unnoticed, it can significantly influence the way the data is interpreted, leaving room to believe a certain conclusion or assumption is an absolute truth, when it could change by looking at it from a different perspective. Here are five techniques for fudging the numbers with misleading statistics examples: Technique #1: Citing Misleading "Averages" The first technique is using the word "average" without specifying what kind of average a figure represents. If the sample size of the study is too small to prove its conclusion then you should be responsible enough and not use these results as an absolute truth as this paves the way for future misinformation. Statistics is regularly used by urban planners to decide how many apartments, shops, stores, etc. Be prepared to be confused. The example above is an example of selective bias; the biologists were recruited, not randomly selected. As businesses are often forced to follow a difficult-to-interpret market roadmap, statistical methods can help with the planning that is necessary to navigate a landscape filled with potholes, pitfalls, and hostile competition. An analysis of misinformation from five samples across the United States, Europe, and Mexico showed that substantial portions of each populationanywhere from 15% to 37%believed misinformation about COVID-19 in April and May 2020, representing what the authors call a "major threat to public health.". The plot compared the number of COVID-19 cases over time for counties in Kansas that had mask mandates versus those that did not. At a glance, the chart makes you believe that The Times has twice as many full-price subscriptions as its competitor. Image: Yale University What's wrong with this picture? For instance, showing a value for 3 months can show radically different trends than showing it over a year. If you are the one performing the analysis, for instance generating reports for your job, you can ask yourself a few relevant questions to avoid using misleading statistics. What is a conclusion you could draw from this plot that would not make much sense (i.e., pushing them to make the causation error)? They can lead to misleading statistics that give you a faulty idea of customer satisfaction and product preferences. However, when you look at a longer time period such as 1910 to 2015 (image below) we realize that the debt is actually very low comparing it to other years. Train journalists, editors, and other media professionals to recognize, correct, and avoid amplifying misinformation. Why might the COVID-19 case rates be higher in counties with mask mandates than those without? The image below shows a graph advertising KFCs crispy chicken twister wrap and comparing its calories with other brands with a similar product. These examples bring up several concepts that are, under the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (NGAC & CCSSO 2010), introduced beginning in the sixth grade, such as understanding differences between histograms and bar charts, as well as drawing comparisons between two samples, leading to an understanding of association (for both continuous data and categorical data) and correlation. It was this unethical and misleading graph, which was also FDA approved, that helped in initiating one of the biggest health crises in the US, opioid addiction. This misleading tactic is frequently used to make one group look better than another. 1. People who were more susceptible to . Amplify communications from trusted messengers and subject matter experts. Some useful questions to ask could be: What purpose might the Georgia Department of Public Health have had in manipulating the plot in this way? Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and policies to prevent and address health misinformation. The Govenor race where one guy's 37% was WAY more than just 37% gravismarketing.com / Via reddit.com 4. Strengthen the monitoring of misinformation. We then build on these examples to draw connections to how they could be used to enhance statistics teaching and learning, especially as it relates to secondary and introductory tertiary statistics and quantitative reasoning coursework. The pandemic of the novel coronavirus has gripped the entire world and engaged people in consuming scientific informationperhaps more so than any other event in history. A Beginners Introduction To The Most Common Data Types In Programming, A Complete Guide To Spider Charts With Best Practices And Examples Of When To Use Them, A Beginners Guide To The Power Of Area Charts See Examples, Types & Best Practices, Using percentage change in combination with a small sample size. While numbers dont always have to be fabricated or misleading, it is clear that even societys most trusted numerical gatekeepers are not immune to the carelessness and bias that can arise with statistical interpretation processes. The above graph/chart was presented as a point of emphasis. See typical methods & real-world examples of misuse of statistics the news, advertising, science & media. The name and date of birth used in this example are imaginative, used for illustrative purposes, and do not represent an actual patient. It is our hope that these examples inspire statistics educators and statistics teacher educators to leverage these kinds of examples for use in teaching and learning to support students in working toward statistical literacy within the vision of the Pre-K12 and College GAISE Reports (Bargagliotti etal. The Surgeon Generals Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation provides specific guidance and resources for health care providers, educators, librarians, faith leaders, and trusted community members to understand, identify, and stop the spread of health misinformation in their communities. Just like other industries or areas that we will cover on this list of examples, the healthcare industry is not free of the misuse of statistics. Citation2020), this very truth has now been laid bare for the world to see in the media and social media as the general public grapples with making, and making sense of, data-based arguments around COVID-19. newrepublic.com / Via reddit.com Advertisement 3. To get this journey started, let's look at a misleading statistics definition. (, Adults Statistical Literacy: Meaning, Components, Responsibilities, National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. secure websites. Christopher Engledowl & Travis Weiland wrote an insightful article called Data (Mis)representation and COVID-19: Leveraging Misleading Data Visualizations For Developing Statistical Literacy Across Grades 616. Omitting data 10. However, some have argued that it may have been unintentional (Cairo Citation2020, May 20). Television is not the only media platform that can provide examples of bad statistics in the news. Instead, we see the dates between April and May interspersed with the aim of making viewers of this graph believe that the cases are gradually decreasing. What is a conclusion you could draw from this plot that would be more accurate (i.e., pushing them to consider association or correlation concepts)? Misinformation is information that is false, inaccurate, or misleading according to the best available evidence at the time. Another unfair method of polling is to ask a question, but precede it with a conditional statement or a statement of fact. Dietary supplement businesses frequently exaggerate the health benefits of their products. Truncating an axis is another way in which statistics can be misleading. In this article, we showcase examples of how data related to the COVID-19 pandemic has been (mis)represented in the media and by governmental agencies and discuss plausible reasons why it has been (mis)represented. While a malicious intent to blur lines with misleading statistics will surely magnify bias, the intent is not necessary to create misunderstandings. In this case, there is no way to know if the data were purposefully (mis)represented to support a particular message, or if it were (mis)represented by accident. What information is missing from this data? Imagine you are in need of risky emergency surgery and have to choose between going to hospitals A or B to get it. Misleading Coronavirus graphs. In CCSSM, students gain experiences with histograms beginning in grade 6, and they begin comparing multiple plots as early as the seventh grade. Misleading Data Visualization Examples 1. Invest in quantifying the harms of misinformation and identifying evidence-based interventions. Whatever the types of graphs and charts you choose to use, it must convey: - The method of calculation (e.g., dataset and time period). Educate students and the public on common tactics used by those who spread misinformation online. Now, if we take a closer look at this chart we can find a few mistakes that make the information very misleading. Why did the first plot look so different? It is a data mining technique where extremely large volumes of data are analyzed for the purpose of discovering relationships between different points. However, when taking a closer look at the graph, we can see that the y-axis is reversed, starting with the highest numbers at the bottom and reaching 0 at the top. Nutrition studies have a particularly bad reputation in the news. Verify the accuracy of information by checking with trustworthy and credible sources. Sometimes, it is better to just make a simple bar or even a table with a couple of columns so that something like this won't happen. Yes, spin. No matter how good a study might be, if it's not written using objective and formal language, then it is at risk to mislead. While numbers dont lie, they can in fact be used to mislead with half-truths. Content. For example, if you have a data set with a diastolic blood pressure range of 230 (highest diastolic value) to 25 (lowest diastolic value) = 205 (range), an error probably exists in your data because the values of 230 and 25 aren't valid blood pressure measures in most studies. If you perform a quantitative analysis, sample sizes under 200 people are usually invalid. These two questions are likely to provoke far different responses, even though they deal with the same topic of government assistance. This list of misleading statistics fallacy examples would not be complete without referencing the COVID-19 pandemic. organization in the United States. It would be preposterous to say that they cause each other and that is exactly why it is our example. They provide great insight, often more so than the answers. First, although there was an obvious decline, the word rapid is not as justifiableit is certainly less pronounced. To avoid this issue, you should always pick a random sample of people whose background may or may not be related to the topic of the survey. The top 10 most-shared articles that were reviewed by clinicians and scientists for accuracy were: Look at the About Us page on the website to see if you can trust the source. Grueskin shared some of these insightful examples of misleading statistics in the news in a Twitter thread that became very popular. As an exercise in due diligence, we will review some of the most common forms of misuse of statistics, and various alarming (and sadly, common) misleading statistics examples from public life. Some misleading online posts are difficult to spot because they contain both good and bad medical advice. About eight-in-ten U.S. murders in 2021 - 20,958 out of 26,031, or 81% - involved a firearm. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it has been shown that a third of the scientists admitted that they had questionable research practices, including withholding analytical details and modifying results! What Is A Misleading Statistic? Improper bubble sizes 13. At a first glance, the graph, which is displayed below, shows a descending trend that starts the year the law was enacted, concluding that Stand Your Grown is responsible for the apparent drop in the number of murders committed using firearms in the years after it was implemented. It is worth mentioning that 1998 was one of the hottest years on record due to an abnormally strong El Nio wind current. 5) How To Avoid & Identify The Misuse Of Statistics? Rather its politicians trying to make a point for their own interest or just someone not understanding the information behind the graphs and charts they create, crime statistics are not free of being misleading. By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. The problem was, the graph, which is depicted below, was built with a y-axis on a logarithmic scale instead of a linear one, making it look like the rate of change is smaller than it actually is. Recently, Kellogg's UK was hit with a ban from the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) after making false health claims in its advert for Special K cereal. As we can see, the X axes here start from 590 instead of zero. Together, we have the power to build a healthier information environment. This is with the same aim of making it seem like the cases are dropping. On the other side, of 400 patients that arrived in poor condition at Hospital B, 210 survived at a survival rate of 52.5%. The scientists estimated that, of the articles on the top 10 list, the ones with very low credibility scores received 2.1 million shares, while the neutral articles received 2.6 million shares, and the most credible ones received 1.7 million shares. However, the telling of half-truths through study is not only limited to mathematical amateurs. The most common ways statistics are misused, besides misinterpretation, are the following: faulty polling, flawed correlations, misleading data visuals, selective bias and small sample size (Lebeid 2018).

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